2011-07-28 - History of Heroism
Slight of build and not tall at all, a figure in simple jeans and a ubiquitous hoodie opens one of the front doors to the NYU Library. Nothing special, really. But whomever this is walks up a flight of stairs to the mezzanine level and approaches the main circulation desk, waiting a bit impatiently for a chance to speak to one of the librarians. One thing to be said: wearing something like that outside in this weather? That takes guts. Or determination. Or both. Or maybe she's a space alien who finds Earth way too cold...nah. Talking to the librarians is a distinct contrast...a fairly tall blonde who is not wearing nearly that much...cut offs and a bright red t-shirt that reads 'Knowledge Is Freedom'. Typical college student, in other words. Maybe a grad student, as she's perhaps a little older than most here. The slight figure waits and waits. When finally given a shot to get to the front of the line, the figure leans over the counter, pulls out a wallet and displays it to the librarian. There's a few moments of animated discussion. Finally, the librarian slides over a guest pass, stamping it with an unusual symbol: EAV. The librarian waits until the visitor has peeled this off and plastered it on the hoodie before making a shooing motion. The visitor's shoulders slump a little as they head of through the cycling crowd, making their way towards the Historical Documents sections of the east wing. Jesse Chambers happens to be making her way that way as well. Her confidence in herself, quite visible, might well be something the apparently nervous high school kid envies. Or not. It's a high school kid, jesse's sure of that, but not QUITE sure whether it's a girl or a slim boy. No whisps of long hair visible, and nothing feminine in the attire, would lead most to assume a slim boy. But maybe Jesse Chambers isn't most people? Nevertheless, the high school kid heads up the stairs and into the east wing. The security scanner reads the barcode on the temporary ID, and with a buzz pops the door, allowing entrance. The kid heads towards the periodicals sections, and further into the mid-twentieth century collection, narrowing it down to WW2-era periodicals. An interesting choice. If Jesse waits long enough, she'll see the kid pull out a pair of thin translucent gloves and slide them on, and then shimmy out three binders: Life, Time, and the New Yorker. Stacking them up, the figure struggles a bit with the mass, getting up and heading for one of the reading tables with the safe lamps. World War II era periodicals...and Jesse knows the selection here. Because she's used them for her own research. Oh, hey, a pic of Wildcat. She drifts over to the kid. Boy, she decides, after a moment...being both right and wrong. The kid glances up a bit of the face visible for a moment despite the hood. The voice, when the kid speaks, is a struggling alto, trying to force lower and sound deeper. Truth is, it's probably a mezzo-soprano naturally. Maybe the kid's voice hasn't changed? "Sorry. 'Scuse me. Just looking for a few things." The backpack is zipped open, and out comes a notebook. No, not a notebook computer: an actual spiral-bound college-ruled notebook of paper. And a pencil. Cribbed notes start filling the page as the kid reads through an article on the Justice Society, and some from a retrospective on Captain America done at the end of the war. Jesse Chambers hesitates, then rummages on the shelfs, then slides a different periodical to the kid-with-the-not-very-good-fake-voice. "Here. This one might be even more useful." This is a field Jesse KNOWS, after all. The kid takes the periodical, glancing up at Jesse again. Unless Jesse is really, really forgiving, she'd have to assume that what she can see of that face means that's a girl. A cute girl, really, trying to pretend she's a boy, or at least cast doubt on her femininity. Weird. "Thanks." The kid keeps flipping through, reading quickly and taking notes. That is until she flips the page to an image of Captain America, shield raised, confronting one of the Nazi ubermenche. Her gloved hand hovers over the page, not quite touching. It's a rather reverent posture. Maybe she's avoiding some horrible stalker boyfriend. Even high school kids can have horrible stalker boyfriends. Shame Jesse can't admit she knows Cap...not everyone believes he's the real thing anyway. "Reading up on the Justice Society?" "Heroes. It's an assignment." The kid doesn't try to lie and say it is a /school/ assignment. She's not quite that dim. "It's just ... these are them. Y'know? Heroes when they were heroes. Not vigilantes. Not hunted and hated. When they ... changed everything." More of that reverence, now in her tone. "Can I sit down?" She adds. "I'm Jesse." Now that would be a much better name for the gender-confused...which she so clearly isn't." "Mmm? Sure. Go 'head." The kid ofers, turning back to look through the article surrounding the full-page spread of Captain America. She stays there for a bit, finishes it, and then moves on to one in Life centering on Wildcat of the Justice Society. She's not feverish or anything in this. She's actually pretty methodical, but whatever is driving her isn't visible. It /is/ apparent that she shows no real interest in the female heroes of the Society. Even Wonder Woman gets a pass. Looking for male role models. Desperately trying to change her voice, hide her gender. Jesse brushes back her hair. "Could also look into some of the ones that were slightly after the war. Although I admit, there's nobody quite like Captain America." The poor kid is a living, breathing Johnny Cash song, without the physique to back it up. (Boy Named Sue) She doesn't try to give her name. But she glances again at Jesse when the blonde speaks. "Yeah. No one quite like him. Especially with that shield." The shield? Honestly? But between Cap's shield and his leaderly, inspiring persona and his military service, Captain America is probably her absolute greatest idol, bar none. The notes the kid is jotting down include a few different kinds of information. There's a lot of quotes, especially as they speak to the heroes' motivations, personal codes and the like. There's also bits about their backgrounds: where they grew up, what they did growing up, that sort of thing. And there's a gathering of information on how they learned, how they taught themselves to become who and what they were. Jesse Chambers nods. "I hear Wildcat kicked serious butt too. And Wonder Woman, of course." The kid might be ignoring her, but Jesse isn't about to. The notes are briefly scanned. Kid's doing... "Let me guess, you're exploring heroic motivation?" The kid looks at Jesse, almost accusingly. "Hunh? Uhm ... no. Not exactly. I'm exploring heroic transformation." But she's still mad at the other girl for no good reason, other than the fact that this stranger is poking at her private thoughts and feelings, and Susannah is very, very defensive about that. "Reality versus Fiction, and the heroic transformation narrative." Damn. /That/ sounds like a college-level paper. Frankly, sounds like it could be a master's thesis. "Cool. Almost the reverse of my planned thesis...I'm doing how the existence of supers affects society, how people react to them." And it does. The kid has to be doing at least an AP or IB class. Or is just brilliant and doing it on her own. Or she's both of those, and very, very driven. The kid's mouth makes a little 'o' of surprise, and then she snaps her jaw shut, all too aware of how like a little girl that has to make her look. Jesse can surely see the regret and humiliation in her eyes, before she stifles it, shoves it deep down inside. "That sounds like a really interesting thesis. I guess that's why you know where all of this is?" The kid sighs, then turns towards Jesse, sticking out her gloved hand. "I'm Su-- Sam. Sam Duncan." Chances are that's NOT her name. Wanna bet? "Yeah, it is." She reaches to shake hands, pretending (quite well, actually) to ignore the girl-boy stumbling over her-his own name. She's got an inkling as to what might be going on, but it's frankly something she has no direct personal experience with and isn't sure how to handle. And sensing Jesse's awareness and conclusions just amps up the self-loathing in the kid's eyes. It's a real shame, honestly, 'cause she'd be adorably cute if she wasn't so busy hating herself. "Anyway. Thanks for the help." she murmurs. The kid turns back to the magazines, reading the articles over again, as a few more notes are added. Jesse may or may not catch one note jotted down: current Cap Cat? Real, originals? Train? Then she turns over the page and keeps going. Ironically, Jesse could tell her exactly where to get training. If she knew and if it was safe for her to do so. Catching the hint, she retreats to the nearest stacks, reaching to get down a book for her own research. The kid hangs around for almost another half hour, finding several other sources and jotting down more information. Eventually, though, she comes back into the stacks carrying the very heavy gathering of perodical folios, and puts each of them back where she found them as neatly as she can manage. Only once they are all back does she finally take off the gloves she's wearing, and drop them back into her backpack with her notebook. Just before she zips it up, there's a flash of azure blue within the depths of the bag, as light from the overheads hits something in the bag. She gives a little hiss, and zips up the bag again, slinging it onto hr shoulders. Jesse Chambers does see that...but she doesn't say anything. If the girl has secrets, she doesn't want to know them, after all. It would be beyond rude to ptry into something that might be meta-ish. 'Sam' doesn't come around to thank Jesse or say goodbye. She just trundles out to the door, buzzes back out, and then heads out of the library, probably returning her temporary pass at the librarian central desk before she leaves entirely. The only real clue Jesse has to the girl's identity is that stamp: EAV. Category:Logs